New
Zealand architectural firm Studio106 has recently reduced its urban
95-m2 (1,022-ft2) office space to a tiny 9 m2 (97 ft2) working
mobile unit. With help from local business Retro Events,
Studio106's director Dion Gosling and interior designer Kerri
Cunliffe converted a retro caravan into a mobile office space,
complete with cardboard desks and portable furniture.

The
idea to create a mobile office space on wheels came to the team of
architects and designers after enjoying a long Southern Hemisphere
summer and the need to make a decision on their upcoming office rental
review. The portable office concept enables the team to not only enjoy the
outdoors for longer, but also travel and work directly on different
project sites.

Gizmag
recently got the chance to interview Studio106's director Dion Gosling and interior designer Kerri Cunliffe about their "Gone Mobile" experience. Here's what they had
to say:

"The
caravan just sort of came along as a solution to how we could get
mobile and 'chase' the good weather around and explore the concept of
a mobile office. Simply relocating to a
smaller space by the sea side just wasn't as appealing as something
on wheels – it really spoke to the exploration and freedom of summer
road trips that we had all just enjoyed over the break. The caravan
felt like an extension of the summer holiday whilst sneaking work
into the mix. The inside was 9 m2, which was a significant reduction
from our 95-m2 office in the city. But it didn't feel that small
due to the ability to open up one side of the caravan and extend the
office out."

Working alongside local
businesses, Studio106 managed to keep its costs to a minimum, all the
while completing the conversion in approximately seven days. The final
result was a clean and fresh mobile office complete with a
retractable wall, cardboard desks, outdoor
furniture, computers and essential office equipment.

"The bones of the
caravan were great so this made the task a little easier," the team says. "We employed the age old architecture
motto 'less is more' and stripped the interior back, introducing an
interior ceiling feature, soft furnishings and crucial office
equipment. It was a great opportunity to review what we really need
to work effectively – desk, chairs and computer were obvious, but
books, our library, printers and other items were reduced."

The overall layout and
design of the mobile office included a couple of "break-out"
zones. The first is the inclusion of a flexible stand-up desk,
offering the possibility to work or have meetings outdoors or in the
shade of a nearby tree. The second zone is made up of a small
whiteboard table and a few stools, allowing for a more permanent
outdoor working zone, ideal for larger meetings, lunches or
gatherings. Bringing some of the
creativity from its previous office, the caravan includes a unique
and handmade paper ceiling installation.

"Our favorite feature
is the ceiling feature. We had
previously created an installation for the wall of our studio. For
this we collected a weeks worth of dis-used paper and scrunched it up
to form a bit of feature. We repeated this process for the ceiling of
the caravan. The result turned out great – it was lightweight, fun
and creative. The effect gave us a more refined color pallet and a
feature to brighten the interior."

Overall weight,
mobility and security were the biggest concerns for the studio, as it
was necessary to keep the office and all its equipment in a secure
location overnight. Therefore the team decided to outfit the
caravan with lightweight and portable furniture, allowing them to
easily pack down and tow the caravan to a secure location after work
each night.

"Everything that
went into the caravan went through a bit of a screening process. Our desks in the office, although
lovely, were far too heavy to tow and set up each day. We instead
partnered with Refold, who have developed these fantastic cardboard
desks which solved so many of our problems we had come up against.
They were light and flexible – we could take them outside during the
day, move them around and then pack them down at the end of each
day."

While the Studio106
team may have left behind many luxuries of its previous large urban
office space, the new tiny mobile space meant they could now
easily work on site and directly with their clients.

"Being on the
site opened up new insight into the site. We ended up chatting to
lots of local users and gained real learnings into what they enjoyed
about the site or what they wanted to see change."

"Small spaces are
a great challenge and we love this" add Gosling and Cunliffe.
"We work on many 70s town house alternations, which are small
spaces on often tight sites. As we did with the caravan we seek to
solve challenges that are associated with small, tight spaces with
poetic solutions. Solutions that go beyond meeting functional
requirements and add a touch of fun or beauty to them. We think there
is often a danger that people fall into when renovation or designing
a small space, in that they provide a functional solution. With the
caravan we wanted to tick off all the functional requirements whilst
also creating a fun and enjoyable atmosphere."

The "Gone Mobile"
office experience has given Studio106 great insight into what it
means to live and work in small spaces and the added bonus of being
able to engage with the local community and
businesses. The architectural studio plans to continue its
exploration and development of small, creative and mobile conepts,
including participating in Auckland's PARK{ing} day later this
year.

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